Artists often find their muses in the most unlikely of places, and for Phil Imbriano, a senior designer at Topps, his latest stroke of creativity came courtesy of a routine subway ride. In an ordinary scene for any New Yorker, a red-and-silver badge with sleek lines caught his eye during a mundane morning commute. To anyone else, it might have been an unremarkable city detail, but for Imbriano, it sparked a design idea that would eventually redefine the 2025 Topps Series 1 baseball cards.
The narrative of these cards began with Imbriano’s instinctive grab for his phone to snap a quick photo of the badge that intrigued him. By the time he stepped off the train and reached his workplace at Topps, he was already deep into creating sketches that borrowed lines from that initial subway inspiration. These sketches evolved through countless iterations, ultimately birthing the base design of what has now been unveiled as the Topps Series 1 cards.
Drawing from everyday encounters is a pivotal part of Imbriano’s creative process. “I love drawing inspiration from everyday things,” he mentioned. “It could be a building, a sign—just something that catches my eye. I take pictures and refer back to them later. You never know when something simple will turn into something big.” Indeed, the simplest of cityscapes have the potential to yield sophisticated designs that echo through pop culture.
The 2025 series introduces a striking visual element: two bold lines sweep across the left side and the top of each card, sports aficionados and collectors alight upon a design they’ll find nostalgically familiar. Echoing the iconic 1982 Topps set, the lines are now intricately color-matched to each featured team, crafting a seamless blend between times gone by and contemporary flair.
Though a happy accident, the 1982 connection wasn’t the initial inspiration. Imbriano first took cues from the woodgrain aesthetics of the 1962 and 1987 sets. “The ’82 connection was a happy accident,” he explained. “But I think it works because it blends vintage style with a modern twist.”
Topps, with its storied history, takes the design process seriously. The company hosts a comprehensive in-house competition where designers submit concepts through several rounds of scrutiny. Imbriano’s design emerged victorious from a pool of over 20 creative submissions. This internally competitive environment not only refines artistic ideas but also incorporates elements from past designs into future sets. This year, for instance, a subtle field graphic marking the player’s position finds its spot on the card’s lower right corner.
From that serendipitous subway moment to the final print ready for the collectors, Imbriano wove nearly ten different iterations into this sophisticated design. “There’s so much that goes into this process,” he noted. “I don’t think most people realize how much work happens before they ever hold the card in their hands.”
With the digital designs finalized, Topps transitions into a tactful phase of creation: physical prototypes. This step, as Clay Luraschi, Topps’ senior vice president of product elucidates, is crucial. “When we’re down to the final five designs, we actually print them out and simulate opening a pack,” Luraschi explained, highlighting the tangible experience as essential to their creative process.
Indeed, this task carries immense responsibility as Topps continues to uphold and innovate the 74-year-old legacy of its baseball cards. Each edition resonates with the legacy of Sy Berger, the master of kitchen table card design. Today, the process heads from the kitchen to high-tech design rooms, reflecting the rich history and future-forward thinking of the company.
But the baselines are just the beginning. The 2025 Series 1 is enriched with robust subsets ensuring every collector finds their niche. These include Future Stars, All-Topps Team, and City Connect Swatch Collection Autographs, to name a few. Signature Tunes pair players with the artists behind their tracks, and First Pitch reveals celebrities who threw ceremonial first pitches last year.
Special tributes also abound, with base-card variations for Dodgers enthusiasts highlighting iconic moments, including the “Freddie Dance” of Freddie Freeman fame. This celebration reaches back in time too – the 35th-anniversary edition pays homage to the 1990 Topps set known for its vibrant designs. All of these intricate features orbit around Imbriano’s fresh base design, the centerpiece of the 2025 collection.
“I approach designing cards like I would a movie poster,” Imbriano shared, encapsulating his creative vision. “Each card should stand out on its own, almost like a mini poster in a collector’s hands.” This ethos is central to Topps’ artistic philosophy and resonates through its designs.
As Clay Luraschi admires, “Phil’s design is incredible. Fifty years from now, people should be able to look at a card and instantly recognize the year it’s from. This one absolutely nails that idea.” Through subway cars and stoic senior designers, the simple intimacies of daily life continue to drive the visual narratives of culture and sports.
